this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2024
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[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 67 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Nothing screams broken neck like soapy marble stairs. I can't imaging climbing them in the rain.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 58 points 10 months ago (2 children)

With no handrails, apparently.

[–] fahfahfahfah@lemmy.billiam.net 27 points 10 months ago

Yeah this is the part that bothers me the most

[–] AJ1@lemmy.ca 9 points 10 months ago

you know how they say that safety regulations are written in blood? here's an early example of building codes, or lack thereof

[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

That's not soap, they're holystoning the porch.

[–] teft@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Holystoning is done to wood, not marble.

[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago

Maybe, but in the rain those would be slick. That was my point.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 39 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Those are the cleanest, newest stoops I have ever seen.

When new stoops are built, they already look more worn out than this.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Apparently they're marble!

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Like… solid slabs??

Worth more than the whole house.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No, blocks right 4ft long 10 wide and 6 or 8" tall.

Under the steps given the age might be a cold room like my house and many like it from the same time period.

[–] MNByChoice@midwest.social 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Like only under the steps and the size of the steps, or a full room which is partly under the steps?

Cool either way....

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Depends but in my area it's the width and depth of the stoop. With the cracks and gaps between blocks acting as your vent.

[–] Bbrbu22@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Found an article about them from a few years ago. https://www.wypr.org/2021-12-06/a-stone-cold-mystery

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

Probably because they're not built from marble blocks. Was marble not a premium construction material back then?

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago

Alright, alright.. we'll build you some stairs, but NO railings!

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Any extra information on the photo? The trees in the background would likely be Patterson Park.

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

The picture has been making rounds, but I just found a research article that uses it while talking about the East side of Baltimore.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Berea-and-Madison-Eastend-correspond-roughly-with-the_fig2_268150484

[–] SparrowRanjitScaur@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Evotech@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yeah but like those stairs just scream unsafe. Like weirdly unsafe.

Even for the 50's.

Why are there no handrails?

AI is getting pretty good.

edit but this isn't AI, it's just weirdly unsafe. https://mdhsphotographs.tumblr.com/post/6113325836/scrubbing-the-white-marble-steps-baltimore

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Was marble cheap back then or something? Those stairs are worth thousands of dollars each.

[–] workerONE@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Looks like Hamsterdam from the wire

[–] Rubisco@slrpnk.net 2 points 10 months ago

Beat me to it, Bubs. Was gonna say Hamsterdam is lookin clean here.

[–] mvilain@fedia.io 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

An ADA lawyer would be filing an accommodation lawsuit for each unit. It'd cost the landlord $40K/unit on average.

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Should have spent some of the solid marble stair budget on simple wooden ramps.

[–] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 months ago

Ada wasn't til 1990. These would all be grandfathered in unless they were governmental stuff.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

ADA didn't exist

[–] dis_honestfamiliar@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 10 months ago

Interesting. Condos were a thing in the 50s